CVE-2023-53849 drm/msm: fix workqueue leak on bind errors
A resource leak in the Linux kernel's DRM MSM driver can lead to memory exhaustion and denial of service during device binding errors.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2023-53849?
CVE-2023-53849 is a denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 9 Dec 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
drm/msm: fix workqueue leak on bind errors
Make sure to destroy the workqueue also in case of early errors during bind (e.g. a subcomponent failing to bind).
Since commit c3b790ea07a1 ("drm: Manage drm_mode_config_init with drmm_") the mode config will be freed when the drm device is released also when using the legacy interface, but add an explicit cleanup for consistency and to facilitate backporting.
Patchwork: https://patchwork.freedesktop.org/patch/525093/
Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53849?
How do I fix CVE-2023-53849?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.
Is CVE-2023-53849 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53849 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2023-53849, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53849, GHSA-qjg8-j726-37mh, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2023-53849, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2023-53849, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53849.